Hua Hin national tourism suffers from high food prices & expensive accommodation
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) (Hua Hin Office) will launch a tourism roadshow in Bangkok, the north and northeast of Thailand. The activity, aiming to promote tourism for and increase more tourists in Hua Hin, was initiated after complaints were lodged via the TAT website about problems regarding too much expensive food and accommodation, traffic congestion and no direct flights to the city.
The Director of the TAT (Hua Hin Office) Mrs. Pinnat Charoenphol said that the TAT usually organized “Sawasdee Muang Thai (Hello Thailand)”, a tourism fair at the Bi- Tech, Bang Na in Bangkok from January to February. There, owners of hotels and guesthouses in Thailand are invited to sell their accommodations to Thai and foreign travelers, using cable sale rooms provided by the TAT.
Mrs. Pinnat added that tourism in Hua Hin did not have any problems although it needed more number of visitors. This has to be proposed in a national agenda on tourism of Thailand after the country faced political conflict and great flood last year. She also thought about asking tourism business owners and the media in Prachuab Khirikhan to join a roadshow in Nakhon Rachasima and encourage local administrators, bankers and businesspeople to visit beachfront cities like Hua Hin, Pranburi and Bang Saphan. Now, the TAT in Nakhon Rachasima is preparing a welcoming activity for the Hua Hin visitors. The activity includes silk weaving demonstration, a trip to Ban Dan Kwian, one of Thailand’s most ancient village and Khan Tok, a traditional Lanna-Thai styled dinner set.
A random survey done recently by the TAT found that around 100 accommodations in Prachuab Khirikhan had less Europeans and Scandinavians in the beginning of 2012 than last year. This is alarming because those foreigners are frequent visitors of the province and the plummeted number of tourists means lower income on local business. However, more tourists are visiting other parts of Thailand, especially the south, namely Khao Lak, Koh Samui, Krabi, Pang Nga and Phuket, as the room booking rate is as high as 200%.
The reason why more foreigners go to the south of Thailand is because travel agents there facilitate them with charter flights from Suvannabhumi International Airport after arriving Bangkok. Since Hua Hin has its own airport and available immigration officers, it may be worthwhile to follow such practice, proposed Mrs. Pinnat to the chairman of the Tourism Business Association in Cha-Am/Hua Hin so that he puts it in a national agenda for the government.
Even though foreigners still like to come to Hua Hin, the city still has problems that require urgent solution. Some of them are traffic congestion, pricey food and non-standard accommodations. These are the problems usually posted by travelers in the TAT website, concluded Mrs. Pinnat.
Hua Hin Today : On the average, Hua Hin is by far more expensive than Bangkok , Pattaya and Phuket.
Living cost in Hua Hin is the highest in the country and large chain supermarket prices differ from those in Bangkok, or even Pranburi.
